XCOM: Hope
by Archwar
Summary: The Temple Ship is destroyed. Along with it, the Volunteer and most of XCOM's best soldiers. However, the remaining aliens have been thrown into disarray causing chaos across the globe. XCOM sends out all of their Strike Teams to quell the threats. Strike Diamond is tasked with extracting a VIP, but things go terribly wrong.
1. Chapter 1: Finish the fight

Chapter 1: Finish the fight

 **North America, unknown location**

 **August 17, 2016**

 **XCOM base Alpha, Cafeteria**

 **Johnson**

Johnson walked into the bustling cafeteria of XCOM's home base in North America. Stomach growling, he went over to the food line getting behind a stereotypical. Big, burly man with a giant machine gun stitched into his orange uniform. Though, Johnson had come to learn to trust most of XCOM's personal and was unfazed by the man. He grabbed a tray going and picking out foods as the line went. After filling his tray with his favorite foods, which was a variety of plant-based foods, he looked for the table where his Strike-Team normally sat at.

His brown eyes eventually landed on a trio of people sitting in one of the middle tables. Johnson maneuvered through the table maze, careful not to bump one of the veteran XCOM people. Those people had been here since XCOM first started, when the aliens came and began their war on man.

Johnson got to the table, placed his tray down, and sat. He glanced at each one of his teammates smiling. They had only recently met, but they felt like friends already after a few missions together. Who would know that war could bring people together? Johnson recalled each of their names and roles quite easily.

A young female, likely in her earlier twenties, sat next to Johnson carefully eating her meal was a fellow white American. _Cynthia_ was stitched into her orange uniform and a red cross on her back designating her role as a medic. Occasionally, a tuft of blonde hair fell blocking her eyes and her fingers pulled it away.

Just across from Johnson sat a man with narrow eyes and a rounded face was a Chinese man with a silly grin. _Zhou_ was also stitched on his uniform. His crazy green eyes bounced around the table as if they had a mind of their own. The man was rolling his meatballs around with his fork.

Then finally, sitting at the very end of the table, silently eating his food, was a Middle Eastern man. Brown eyes kept down avoiding looking at anyone. The tanned form tried blending into the background and he did for the most part, the only thing that separated him was a short, black beard. _Aleph_ was stitched into his uniform as well.

"Sup," Johnson greeted as he began probing his food for a suitable item to consume.

"Oh, yeah John!" Cynthia smiled.

"Hello earthling!" Zhou grinned madly causing Johnson to shake his head. The irony. Aliens were invading earth and Zhou had the audacity to say that.

Aleph simply grunted, his way of saying hello.

"So, anyone heard about the recent rumors?" Johnson asked, looking to start conversation.

"Yeah. Strikes 1 through 6 were sent out and I've been sneaking around the Geoscape. There's something that looks like a giant UFO near Brazil." Cynthia replied.

"Maybe it has something to do with the recent quakes? Never know what the Aliens are capable of," Johnson stated. He felt a slight vibration going through his feet, but ignored it thinking it was just another tiny aftershock.

"Yay! The aliens are capable of a lot of things, like mind rape," Zhou grinned madly, almost as if he would enjoy being mind raped.

"Hmm, pretty sure the PSI operatives used to offer something called 'Mind Sex'… ew," Cynthia frowned in disgust. Who would want to have mind sex was beyond her. She preferred not having someone probe her brain.

"Err, this conversation just got awkward. Can we please move on to a less cringe worthy tropic?" Johnson gulped, disgusted at the very notion. Once again, a vibration shook Johnson's feet, slightly more violent.

"Uhh, is it me, or is the earth having a hangover?" Zhou asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I feel it to," Johnson replied," and it's getting worse."

On cue, the Cafeteria began shaking began shaking violently. People went tumbling to the ground sending trays, food, and drinks sailing through the air. The ceiling tiles broke off smashing onto the floor or a person's head. Wires began sparking with many being severed and hanging loose. Alarmed screams and shouts filled the air as people tried to find a way to stabilize themselves. A few even clung to the bigger members thinking they would stand upright, but they too would fall often flattening the clingy person.

Johnson and the others began bouncing up and down. Johnson grabbed the underside of the table thinking it would help stop it, but a tile fell down causing him to yelp and let go. He fell backwards onto the ground hitting his head first. He was stunned with pain for a moment. When he recovered, Johnson saw the form of a man falling down onto his face.

 **XCOM base Alpha, Geoscap**

 **Commander Ali**

In the Geoscap, Commander Ali held onto the railing for dear life. He watched in horror as circles around the UFO dubbed the Temple Ship grew ever larger. As they grew larger, the worse the shaking became. Ali didn't know what the hell was going on, but if he had to make a connection, that damn UFO was causing this worldwide earthquake.

" _What the hell! Did the mission fail? Is this a failsafe in case they lost?!"_ Ali's mind rambled on until panicking shouts from his subordinates demanded his attention.

Ali turned his head to see a white male holding onto the railing. His brown eyes shooting wildly around the Geoscap and he was shouting commands at panicking technicians and Intel officers.

"Damn it people, get back here!" He roared furiously.

"Forget it Bradford! When people panic they lose any sense!" Ali yelled. Then he felt a hand grip his shoulder and he turned around to see Dr. Shen.

"What is happening here?" The elderly engineer asked, slight alarm in his voice.

"No fucking clue!"

"Vahlen, what the hell is going on?" Bradford growled towards the stumbling Dr. Vahlen.

"The, the ship itself is behaving like a dying star," Vahlen answered, her fingers typing onto her tablet," becoming a black hole. At this distance… the entire earth will be consumed."

"WHAT?!" Ali yelled at the top of his lungs." Is there anything that can be done?"

"I'm not sure, Ali!"

"Well," Ali muttered. His hand went into his pockets pulling out a piece of paper and a pen and began furiously scribbling down words. The others looked at him, baffled at what he was doing. He noticed it and said, "What?! I'm writing down my will!"

Before any of them could respond, a voice sounded over the radio.

"Central! I'm bugging out. The package is not on board. I repeat the package is not on board. I waited as long as I could sir!"

"Understandable," Ali sighed," Vahlen, what would be the minimal safe distance from a black hole?"

"A black hole's gravitational pull is large Commander, nothing we have would be fast enough to escape it!"

Ali stared blankly at Vahlen, denying that this was the end of the world. That it would be the end of the human race. All of the resources and money spent fighting the aliens, all the research they've done, the atrocities they've committed, and the soldiers they've lost to save mankind. All for what? If this was truly the end, then Ali wanted to write down something so if a friendly alien race ever came, they would know man's existence. But faith happened to disagreed.

"Sirs! The alien ship is in motion!" One of their remaining Intel officers shouted.

"What direction?" Bradford asked. When the officer didn't reply, he stumbled forward and yelled the question again.

The officer glanced at the computer and simply said, "Up."

"Up? Wait, the Volunteer! Get me a connection!" Ali barked causing the officer to type rapidly. Within a moment a connection was established.

 **Temple Ship UFO**

 **The Volunteer, Cur.**

Cur stood triumphantly over the body of the Uber Ethereal. He glared at the sprawled, robed form of the alien that had led the invasion of earth, killing countless people and abducting even more. The damn thing spoke to him after he volunteered to touch the floating blue ball that they called the 'Ethereal Device'. It gave him some stupid reason that a even bigger threat was coming forward and that the 'failures' didn't had what it took to fight it. It even went as far as to call its own kind the greatest failure of all. Cur just flipped it off once he saw it across the Cathedral-like bridge.

"See you in hell. Say hi to Hitler for me," Cur chuckled. He turned around seeing the aftermath of the brutal firefight.

The remnants of Strike 5 stood on a platform. A Chinese man with a iron-gray goatee was helping his teammate, a French woman, up. After getting up, the woman pulled back her lips and began stomping the corpse of an Ethereal. Zheng placed two fingers on his forehead and shook his head at Durand. The Frenchwoman just kept stomping the corpse.

Cur's gaze swept across the bridge. Husks of former MECs sparkled, corpses of both human and alien littered the ground, ash fluttered around from when the Uber Ethereal summoned illusions of XCOM operatives, and another Ethereal Device was sitting unscratched.

"We did it! We finally fucking did it!" His Russian teammate exclaimed.

"Drinks on me ladies," his American commander grinned.

Cur chuckled and said, "We still have the remains to mop up sir."

Before the American responded, the ship began rumbling as if it was stimulating its own earthquake. Pieces of the ship began falling off and crashing down. Cur and the remaining operatives made a mad dash for the exit thinking that the ship was going to explode. However, as Cur ran, he felt something, like silk, wrapping itself around his head. Images flashed by too rapidly for him to make out properly. What he saw, however, he amounted to the end of earth.

He looked at the device and gasped. It had been the thing that told him! But how? It was acting erratically, constantly changing shape. Purple steams of energy were flowing _into it._ That meant that the device had been the power source of the ship and the only one who kept its power in check was the Uber Ethereal. Cur then swung his head to his team. Two of them had stopped and were shouting for him to rush over and get the hell out. He couldn't… or earth and all of mankind would be lost.

" _GO!"_ Cur bellowed, sending out a wave of energy that sent his teammates flying out the door. One barely had enough time to get up before the doors slammed closed.

Cur shook his head in dismay. They would have to have the victory party without him and as Cur walked towards the Device, thoughts rushed through his head. What if this was a trick? What would happen if he touched the Device? However, Cur brushed those thoughts aside in favor of trusting his instincts. They had always helped him from the beginning of the war all the way to the Temple Ship. So, he placed is hands around the blue ball and once more Cur saw images flash by his eyes.

The Skyrangers, still in the hanger bay, was suddenly and violently pulled towards the ground. It impacted the floor with such force that it exploded. Screams shortly followed as his remaining teammates tried avoiding flying pieces of the Skyrangers. The Temple Ship itself became smaller and smaller as a black hole grew tearing apart buildings and pulling everything into its embrace. Then finally, the earth itself was ripped apart and consumed.

"No," Cur muttered. He closed his eyes, knowing what had to be done. He lifted his hands upwards and the Ship obeyed his command going up.

" _Major Cur! What the hell are you doing?!"_ Ali's commanding voice boomed over his builtin radio.

Cur simply responded, "Finishing the fight sir!"

A moment passed before Ali came over the radio again, _"Guess we'll see you on the flip side soldier. Ali out… and good luck."_

Cur grinned and brought his hands towards the ball. The energy he felt was immense, building up to such a point where it felt like a black hole. Cur then saw his life flashed before him. Of his family, of his friends, of his teammates, of countless memories and they would see him never again. That, alone, brought a tear to Cur's eye.

"This is how it ends, huh? Well then. INTO INFINITY AND BEYOND!" He roared with laughter as he forced all of the energy into the ship. Cur laughed like a mad man on the verge of dying as the energy could no longer be contained and imploded on itself causing the ship to explode in a brilliant flash of light sending the debris into Earth's atmosphere. The war was finally over with people already celebrating, but the fight itself was far from over.

All around the world, the remaining Alien forces were thrown into chaos. Without their Mothership, they no longer felt the guiding presence of the Uber Ethereal who told them what to do. They ran amock in cities and the countyside attacking any human. UFOs began ramming into the ground and the Ethereals that remained were at a lost at what to do.

Expect three, they would fight till the bitter end and inflict as much damage as possible onto the foul humans who had slain so many. The war was lost, but the fight had only just begun.

 **A/N: Hello everyone! Archwar here with another story! This one is about the immediate aftermath of XCOM: Enemy Within. For the people who have been reading my other story, don't worry. That will be completed. I just wanted to get this up so I wouldn't forget it and I would have something to go on.**

 **This story will have elements of the Long War mod, my own ideas, and the Things XCOM Operatives aren't allowed to do. If you're curious about that, google up the name. It's quite humorous! My favorite one is the 'Thrones' for the Commander. The material, of course. belongs to their respective owners and I only take credit for my own ideas.**

 **Anyways, if you people could rate and review that would be greatly appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2:Another day, another operation

Chapter 2: Just a normal day at XCOM

 **A/N: Second chapter is here! This will mostly be explaining a few things to those that are new to XCOM or haven't heard of the Long War mod as well as throwing in my own ideas. Onto the story!**

 **North America, unknown location**

 **August 17, 2016**

 **XCOM base Alpha**

Johnson groaned, feeling the pressure of a heavy-weight boxer ontop of his body. He even felt his bones crack under the weight. The operative lifted itself up off of Johnson and offered a hand. He took the hand firmly, getting off the ground. He groaned again standing on wobbly feet. The pain was gleefully torturing him without mercy. Still, he managed to look around the Cafeteria despite his muscles protesting.

"You alright _comrade_?" A thick Russian accent asked with a hint of concern.

Johnson got up to see the Russian from earlier towering over him with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me up," Johnson rubbed the back of his head, trying to soothe the pain.

"Good, I thought bone was broken. Big height."

"Yeah, you do have a… big height," Johnson nervously chuckled. He had just now realized how big he was compared to him. It was like a bear to a mouse and that bear could have easily crushed the mouse. Johnson had to thank his Adaptive Bone Marrow genemod for that.

The Cafeteria itself was a mess. Food, drink, and trays was scattered all over the place. Ceiling tiles and sparking wires hung forcing the people to duck so they wouldn't bonk their heads. Tables weren't in their neat rows or even toppled. People were buzzing about, helping their comrades or trying to retrieve their food. Johnson then turned around to check on how his team was doing.

Zhou was lifting his face off his plate. A spaghetti strand was latched between his nose and his lips giving him giving him a mustache over a mustache. Part of it was in his mouth and he just slurped it up., apparently still hungry. Cynthia was already helping up a Swedish operative. She then proceeded to rip a piece of her own uniform to bandage a bleeding wound on the forehead. Aleph stood ontop of a table just observing.

Then the alarm blared followed by a disembodied voice screaming over the PA system for all teams to gather at the Armory.

Johnson stood there in disbelief as the people around him blazed towards the armory. If all the strike teams were called up then something bad must be happening. Was it related to Strikes one through six being sent out? Or the giant blimp? Johnson sighed. He didn't have the time to figure it out and so went with the flow of people rushing towards the armory.

Johnson quickly found himself inside at the entrance Interrogation and Holding chamber where XCOM's alien POWs waiting for 'interrogation' if Johnson could call it that. Dr. Vahlen had a reputation of being a sadistic psychopath for probing the alien's brains for any juicy information they might have. He almost felt sorry for the aliens…almost.

Johnson could hear the thumping of boots and screams in the halls. It sounded like the end of the world. Hopefully it wasn't the end of the world.

If Johnson had to choose, he would have gone with the crowd. But being shoved and pushed to the ground constantly didn't bide well with him so he had to enter. Even in the Holding Area, it was chaos.

Half of the POWs inside their cells were going haywire. The small, frail Sectoids with their overhead, pineapple heads were running around in circles for no apparent reason. The uncanny human-like Thin Men simply stood in their blue, stripped business uniforms looking around in their shades. The frightening cyborg Floaters sent blood-curdling screams as they flew erratically and dragging their clawed, metal fingers downward on the glass. The intimidating, hulking Mutons were using their massive fists to bash the glass, or in some cases, their heads. That only made their already inflamed head more inflamed.

The Cryssalids, however, were unusually docile. They stood there peering at Johnson. He stopped to look back into their soulless, golden eyes. They seemed to be looking at him as if they were expecting something. Like how a dog would be waiting for a treat. Typically they would be frantically clawing at the glass and had to be subdued for fear of breaking out.. Now they're more like calm puppies.

The Ethereals just hovered passively. Purple psionic energy was clad to their robes, rolling down onto the floor of the cell forming a purple mist. The only thing that even indicated they were living things and not statues was when Johnson passed by them and they turned their heads to stare beneath their helmets. Johnson had also heard of the terrifying powers of the Ethereals, being able to bend the laws of nature to their advantage. They could not only could they make a veteran human with advanced tech into a cowering pup, but they could even form lighting storms or even cause minor earthquakes. It was no wonder why they were the leaders, but if they had that much power, why didn't they just break out?

Whatever the reason, Johnson was glad that they haven't broken out. He rushed passed them, shortly entering the Interrogation chamber where the latest victim was still being pulled out of the circular, glass container. A trio of scientists were huddled into a circle discussing things that Johnson didn't concern himself with. He was a soldier, not some spook.

Johnson made his way towards the door, but stopped when they opened. Chills went down his spine upon seeing the Cerman-French woman Dr. Vahlen. Her dirty-blonde hair was tied into a ponytail and her tired, blue eyes were trained on her tablet. Bags were around the eyes from countless, sleepless nights.

She didn't even stop to knowledge Johnson's existence. It was no wonder why she earned the reputation of being the 'Mega Bitch of the Galaxy'. Vahlen was more content working herself to death than hanging around with even her own team.

Johnson was just glad he wouldn't end up on either the autopsy table or the Interrogation Chamber. Sure, command denied it, saying it was the PSI operatives who got bored and mind-controlled rookies, but he knew for a fact that Vahlen would just love torturing humans like the one EXALT guy, so according to rumors.

Sure, EXALT was sympatric with the aliens and tried undermining XCOM's efforts, but they didn't deserve having their minds probed to. Maybe that was the reason why they injected poison into their necks when captured.

Eventually, Johnson found himself in the Engineering Section of the base. The sounds of people conversing, things being made, and machines going to work filled the air. Johnson could even taste the hard work of sweat, blood, and oil that the engineers put their hearts and souls in for ops. In turn, many operatives fondly refereed to the Chief Engineer, Dr. Shen, and his underling as 'Santa and his elves.'

"Operative!" A voice made Johnson froze and turned around to see an elderly Chinese man. The wrinkles told of his experience and he was rubbing a bump on his top, bald area of his head. His glasses had a small crack and a bulge hanging off his belly. He held a handgun-like device with a pipe-like protrusion sticking out. A white container was fastened onto it and a liquid Johnson couldn't identify swished around with every step.

"Dr. Shen sir!" Johnson saluted. Even if the Chief Engineer wasn't military, it was a sign of respect for the amount of awesome work that he put forth.

"There's no need for that Johnson," Shen narrowed his eyes to look at the name on the man's uniform, "but there's something I want you to do."

"Of course sir!" Johnson felt humbled. To do something for Dr. Shen was considered an honor among the operatives. Heck, when Dr. Shen came to the Barracks to ask for volunteers to test out new stuff, they had to randomly draw names because so many volunteered.

"I wouldn't put any of you in harms ways, but Dr. Vahlen believes that this… 'Cryssalid Gas' will turn a Cryssalid to our side. Both her and the Commander think this would benefit mankind as a whole. I, however, worry about the implications. We're turning more like into the alien' everyday, but it is for mankind's survival and so far the Commander had been right about a lot of things. Are you willing to try it? If not, I wouldn't worry about being called out on it."

Johnson's eyes widen and gulped. He couldn't believe that Vahlen AND the Commander wanted to see if they could make a Cryssalid into a pet. Worst case scenario he would be turned into an egg carrying zombie just waiting to burst open. But if it did work, then they would have a terrifying new weapon at their disposal.

"I'm willing to try it sir."

"Hmm, alright, be careful when going up close. Now, on how to use it is quite simple. Get close to a zombie and pull the trigger. The liquid will then transform into gas and hopefully rewire the Cryssalid's brain into thinking it is on our side. If it doesn't work the first time, leave it. It's not worth satisfying Vahlen if someone gets hurt or dies."

Johnson nodded and Dr. Shen smiled making Johnson feel comfortable. He handed the device over before making a beeline towards the infirmary to get his head checked after a roof tile fell on the top of his head.

Johnson studied the device in his hands. It was light despite its bulky appearance. As he examined it further, the sounds of inconstant chatter sounded ever closer. He must have been getting near the armory.

Johnson entered the packed armory. There were so many people that it seemed like every inch of the place was covered. He had to squeeze through to find his team. After what seemed like an eternity, Johnson found his team in the center of the crowd. They were in a heated debate on the possible reasons why they were all called upon.

"No! I'm telling you we lost the war and XCOM is being disbanded. That's why we've been called up! Then the aliens are going to have their ways with us!" Zhou was grinning.

"Zhou, why would you want the aliens to win? I think that we won the war, but something is going on," Cynthia crossed her arms.

"Like what?" Aleph asked, putting his hands behind his back.

"I-I don't know!' Cynthia rubbed her temple trying to guess at the reason.

"If you do not know, then your position is weak. I do not believe that we lost the war, but we didn't win it. Perhaps the aliens are finally changing from abductions and terror to full blown war? After all, we have culled their numbers and everytime now when we face an Ethereal in battle, they are either slain or captured for interrogation."

"You all know Mega Bitch uses anal probes," Zhou laughed.

"Stay on topic, Zhou. If you are unfocused then you will face defeat."

"Anything going on here?" Johnson asked as he walked into the circle.

"Nothing much besides from guessing the reason why we're all being called up," Cynthia answered.

"Alright you ladies!" A deep, thundering voice boomed across the armory. Everyone turned their heads towards the source which was a black man smoking a fat cigar. His steely brown eyes swept across the room regarding each person as if they were rookies in bootcamp."Thank you all for coming and not jerking off somewhere. I am the first person to announce we just won the war!"

Cheers began to erupt, but the man barked, quieting the crowd. He adjusted his dark green cap and said, "But the aliens are scrambling over each other and destroying everything in sight! So, what are we gonna do? Well, we're going to show those space fuckers that they couldn't pick a more worse enemy than the human race! When we meet the enemy, we will rip their skulls from their spines and throw them away, laughing! So keep your eyes down the sights and fingers on triggers and we all go home in one piece! Am I right?"

"Oh-rah!" The armory cheered.

"Damn right, but the Commander has tasked me with teaching you new bloods on some of the things you can carry into battle! And as for you vets, you might think you don't need to have the info rammed into your head again, but I know for a fact the lot of you don't know squat.

First up are weapons! They come in three lovely types. Ballistic, Laser, and Plasma! I know some of you just love shouting 'I'm firing meh lazer!' Don't! It just paints a big red target on you and the enemy will enjoy Swiss cheese. The aliens also just love cooking our operatives with their plasma! So the spooks down at RnD found a way to use their own weapons against them! Unfortunately, we don't have piles so only the high ranking ops get them. Ballistics were phased out as soon as lasers went into mass production, but RnD found a way to still make them badass. Men and women, I give you the AR. V2. This badass uses Plasma casing bullets to deal extra damage by penetrating the enemy's armor and do horrible things to them! What makes this baby even badder is that you can use the enemy's own ammo against them! In fact, they're so badass, they'll be standard issue!

Next is armor! Without it, you die. Simple as that. Carapace armor will be the most common and only the advanced armors will be issued to the most dangerous of ops. I also suggest you keep your helmets on unless you just looove choking on Thin Man poison! Or a BBQ. I'll quickly run by on the armors so quit daydreaming about your personal fantasies and pay attention!

Titan Armor protects you from hazards like fire and gas! No, it will not protect you against ARC guns! Archangel Armor allows you to fly for a limited time so use it wisely. Otherwise you become a splattered red dot on the ground. Shadow Armor turns you invisible for a time, but as soon as you fire you'll deactivate it. So don't go around behind the enemy and say 'Boo'. That will only result in your deserving demise! Vortex Armor, or 'PSI' armor, is reserved for those with Psionic Power and it increases their power level. We got other variants, but time is short and those aren't very useful anymore.

Then finally the special equipment! Nano Fiber will act as a second barrier from enemies putting holes into you and medkits will heal said holes! They are multi-dose to, so rookies don't get tricked if a vet throws you one and says 'single use'. Things like laser sights and scopes help you aim better and those of you who miss a shot by a whopping 13 feet, and I'm not kidding bout that, will help you aim. Grenades come in four kinds. The explodey kind, the one that makes you blind, one that smokes, and one that turns you into a stealth master! Remember that things like HE grenades will dish out less pain at the edges than the center. Flashbangs can blind an aliens for a limited amount of time and won't work against certain aliens. Smoke grenades cloak you in a thick mist of whatever making it harder to be hit. Ghost grenades can turn you invisible, but also enemies! Now go out and kick some alien butt!"

The armory erupted with cheers and shouts. The operatives rushed to their lockers or racks to retrieve various pieces of equipment for their ops.

Johnson punched in his locker combination and opened the door. Inside, was a carapace armor colored black, the standard color of all XCOM armors. He took it out and threw it on. The weight was light so he moved as if he wasn't wearing it at all. Johnson then pulled out a pair of grenades and slapped them onto his hips. He then ran over to the racks and picked up his favorite weapon. The scatter laser.

The scatter laser saved his life was countless. While the weapon itself was inferior to its newer, powerful cousin, the Alloy Cannon, they were plentiful. Combined with the cluster of laser array that form multiple lasers instead of splitting it up and packing a strong bite, they were a dream weapon for CQC.

The small, boxy gun's tip was a light shade of crimson. The six 'barrels' were flat and blended into the gun itself, only identified by their glowing crimson. Small, boxes with Xs were on either side and were used to reflect the lasers thanks to the 'special material'. Whatever that was.

Johnson grinned as he was about to place it onto his back when a firm hand placed itself on the mid area of the scatter laser. He let out a yelp of surprise and looked at the owner. It was the operative who gave the speech… and he was holding a regular rifle.

"Oh hell no. This is reserved for the mid-ranks, grunt! You're only a low-tier grunt so you get to test fire our new pack-a-punch weapons!"

The man then proceeded to yank the scatter laser away and shoved the rifle onto Johnson. He fumbled slightly, caught by surprise. He tried protesting, but the operative just walked away with the scatter laser. Johnson huffed, angry that he was forced to 'test' the new weapons.

" _All Strike Teams! Report to the Hanger ASAP!"_ The PA shrieked, motivating the slow movers into hauling ass least they get left behind by their teams.

Johnson just ran out of the armory not even bothering to track the man down. He had to get to the Hanger otherwise there was a chance that he and his team would get picked for cleanup duty. That would be dreadfully boring.

Johnson entered the massive hanger mere moments after the announcement. His labored breath was slow just like how he would do before an exam. After getting his bearings, Johnson looked around the carven. Even after coming here for ops time after time, it still amazed him how huge this place was. It looked as if it could easily fit two football stadiums. Skyrangers were lined up all in neat rows ready for takeoff and above them were Interceptors standing proudly on platforms. Their shiner, more alien like cousins, the Firestorms, simply sat there thanks to their circular-shape. Their silver-blue hulls gleamed menacingly, but were few in numbers thanks to limited resources and the aliens' relentless, superior aerial attacks.

All around people milled about. Soldiers were doing things ranging from checking equipment to praying to some god, staff preparing for the ops to follow, and pilots jumping into their cockpits.

"We have Skyrangers coming in! I repeat Skyrangers are coming home! Clear the deck!" A shout rumbled throughout the Hanger.

Sirens began to boom as if to confirm what just had been said. The trapdoors slid off to the sides allowing six Skyrangers to descend into the Hanger. When they landed, the ramp dropped down with bruised, battered, and bloodied operatives to drag themselves out. Some were also dragging bodies, some of which were mutilated beyond recognized. Paramedics rushed to help the wounded, putting them on stretchers and hastily exited the hanger. No words were exchanged as the process went on before Johnson's amazed eyes. How they worked so flawlessly was the results of months of repeated scenes. Scenes where people were wounded or even killed. Rarely did entire teams come home intact.

But now, late in the war, and even more so now that the aliens were in disarray, the tide had turned. Op after op was completed with minimal loss causing a sense of invincibility among the newer recruits. The older ones still excised caution though, but Johnson was sure that if they played smart everyone would come back fine.

"Alright everyone," everyone turned to the source of the voice. On a screen displaying the Geoscap, a white man in his late thirties wearing a green sweater stood holding up a hand to an earpiece.

Bardford. Johnson remembered the name. The man was second in command to the Commander and his role was to feed tactical info to Strike Teams.

"Because of the situation we are currently in, the Commander saw it fit to allow teams to choose their Skyranger which will then carry you to the op site. We'll get teams paired once we get information in and determine which situations are the most pressing. Now go get them boys and girls!"

Johnson didn't pick a Skyranger immediately unlike others who dragged their entire team into a Skyranger. He would wait till the gang got together and discussed it, even if they disagreed on which one to take. The wait, thankfully, wasn't long as the members of Strike Diamond found him one by one.

"So, which Skyranger do we pick? Just hop in one and see where it takes us?" Johnson crossed his arms waiting for a reply.

"That one," Aleph pointed to a Skyranger with the word _Crow_ painted in white on the side.

"Why?"

"Because it will take us to Raccoon City. A friend of the Council is there and reports from civs suggest alien activity. The aliens likely were planning on abducting the person, but now they're thrown into disarray."

"Ohh," Zhou grinned and his ears perked upon hearing 'Raccoon City', "was this city built by a corporation that makes umbrellas?"

"No."

Zhou's grin faded into a frown and he asked, "Is there a mansion in the middle of nowhere?"

"Not from what I know of. Now let us claim it before anyone else does."

"Have there been any reports of crazed, cannibal people?"

" _Zhou,"_ Aleph's voice didn't rise, but it took a steely edge to it that made Zhou stop with the questions, "we take the Skyranger and head to Raccoon City. I doubt anything bad will happen as the Ethereals were incompetent and would have just sent Thin Men to abduct the VIP. An easy mission for us."

"Aww, but Thin Men pop like a worm in a microwave. I hate it."

"Stay clear of the gas then," Cynthia sneered as she begun to walk towards the Skyranger.

"But I like inhaling gas. I heard it's supposed to be healthy for the lungs!"

"What?" Johnson raised his eyebrows, baffled.

"Zhou must have been listening to the higher ups. You know how they are when boredom has reached its limit," Aleph explained as he walked past Johnson towards the Skyranger.

Johnson just shook his head. He learned not to listen to the higher ups the hard way. When they got bored, things always got interesting. Johnson still had nightmares of Sectoid heads all in the restroom toilets and he was forced to enter the girl's restroom. Things got hairy with a group of not one, not two, but seven female PSI ops.

It was a brisk walk to the Skyranger and the pilot's southern American accent boomed over the overheads.

" _Welcome to Crow Airlines! We thank ye for choosing to fly with us! Buckle in ye younglings for Raccoon City!"_

" _Man, XCOM must be scrapping the bottom of the barrel now if this guy is a pilot,"_ Johnson thought as he took a seat near the cockpit.

Johnson felt the Skyranger purr as the engines started up and the rumble upon takeoff. Shortly after a Holo Screen mineralized at the ramp, the face of a young, white man in a green sweater was on it. The man's piercing green eyes had tire bags under them. The man stifled a yawn trying to maintain a professional atmosphere, but sleepless night after night was starting to get to him.

"Strike Diamond, correct?"

"Yes, that's us," Johnson answered. He leaned back against the hard, cold seat.

"Alright then, you're head towards Raccoon City. Reports indicate heavy X-Ray activity," the man briefed them, using the slang word 'X-Ray' for alien," and a 'Jack Smith', a friend of the Council, was there to help with relief efforts when the X-Rays went apeshit."

"Is Jack Smith a military officer?" Cynthia asked. She had her legs and arms crossed with a raised, questioning eyebrow.

"No. Politician."

"So we're saving a very much possible ungrateful asshole."

"No," the man growled in irritation."Listen, just get down there and get him out. Strike Red will be with you on this op and they've had experience with VIP escort. Follow their lead and you'll make it home in one piece, likely."

"Do we have any more Intel on the situation?" Aleph spoke up, his eyes staring down at his helmet.

The man placed both his hands on his face and let out a deep sigh.

"If you knew what kind of hell is going on in the Geoscape you would understand, but that is all we have at the moment. I'll keep you updated as information becomes available. In the meantime, just get Smith out of there."

"Copy that."

" _We're be nearing the OP site! Thanks for choosing Crow Airlines and we'll be seeing ye when ya get back!"_

Even despite the thick walls of the Skyranger, Johnson could smell the scent of burnt flesh.


	3. Chapter 3: One by one, they fall

Chapter 3: One by one, they fall

 **North America, Raccoon City**

"Not done with the briefing yet," the intelligence officer growled." We're getting a newsreport from within the city. I'll show the video so you guys know what's going on."

Johnson sat back down. The screen switched from the Geoscape to a young, tired blonde man holding a microphone just below his chin. The man faced directly ahead. His tan jacket had holes and was tattered. He appeared to be standing on a balcony overlooking the city.

In the background laid Raccoon City. Columns of smoke rose while fires leaped from building to building. Anti-aircraft guns boomed in the distance trying to down circular, silver-blue disks that responded with hail after hail of green plasma fire. Human and alien gunfire rattled off, followed by the occasional scream. However, the camera was trained on the person and Johnson couldn't tell what else was going on.

"We are here, live and reporting, at Raccoon City where just hours ago, the aliens suddenly, and brutally, attacked indiscriminately. Military and police forces stationed here are attempting to fight back, but as you can see behind me, the fight is not going well. Any and all attempts to communicate with the aliens have failed. Their only intent seems to be that of murder and mayhem. With the military's hands tied, the people of Raccoon City are suffering because much of the city's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. Relief efforts have been hampered by aliens attacks causing further suffering. Similar scenes are taking place across the globe and the militaries of the world are attempting to halt their advance. This is Mark Campbell, reporting for Foxnews, and we'll keep you updated as the situation develops."

The screen changed back to the Geoscrape. The officer was looking down at something off-screen. Maybe a computer?

"Not much, but hope it gives you an idea of what's going on. I'm also receiving Intel that City Hall is under attack. Information is limited, but expect Mutons, both regular and elite, Sectoids, maybe a Commander, Light and Heavy Floaters, and Mectoid. All are being lead by an Ethereal. Watch yourselves down there and don't be heroes. You have the light for deployment Strikes Diamond and Red. Operation _New Era_ is a go!"

The screen disappeared and the pilot's voice boomed on the overheads.

" _Hang on to ya butts! I'm going in deep!"_

"Uhh, I'm not fine with that!" Zhou whimpered and held onto the edges of his seat as the Skyranger made a speedy descent.

" _I'm dropping you as close as I can, but the aliens have their darn AA guns are taking potshots at anything that isn't theirs. Though, it should just be a stroll down the street. God's speed!"_

Johnson's nostrils flared upon smelling burnt, rotten flesh. Even through the thick walls of the Skyranger, the smell clogged the air. When the ramp dropped, the smell intensified. It smelled like somebody piled corpses, poured gasoline on them, and lit it.

The scene that stretched out before Johnson just as he and his team flooded down the ramp, however, was far worse than the smell. All down the street they landed on was covered in a sea of corpses, debris, blood pools, or miscellaneous things. The crisp, mutilated bodies of humans strewn about would haunt him. Great pillars of flames leaped out from the husks of vehicles or buildings. Personal belongings littered the ground, left behind in panic.

But the scene wasn't all gloomy. Johnson smiled for the military gave the aliens a run for their money.

Sectoids blown to bits by grenades or gunfire. Floaters piled into small body heaps and Mutons riddled with so many bullet holes they looked like Swiss cheese. Sparking piles of Cyberdisks and drones on the ground. There was even a Sectopod crumbled on the ground, its blue-orange fuel leaking out.

"Watch out below comrades!" A thick Russian accent boomed. Johnson looked up to see another Skyranger hovering above with its ramp opened wide. Rappel lines were tossed out followed by the members of Strike Red.

Among them was a MEC. The hulking machine leaped, grabbing a line, and rappelled down. Johnson stumbled backwards, trying not to get squished by the metal giant. It landed with a thud. When Johnson got back up, he got a good look at it.

It towered over them by at least a good meter. Its sleek, black armor was a stark contrast against the burning gold and bloody street. Its fat fingers held fast to a laser minigun. Pinned on top was a helmed head whose gaze swept the street for X-Rays.

"First time seeing a MEC, comrade? Glorious isn't it?"

Johnson turned around to see the Russian from the Cafeteria. He had a plasma sniper slung over his back and Johnson could see himself in the golden visor that took up most of the helmet.

"Heard about them, just never thought I actually see one in battle," Johnson said in amazement.

"Soon you shall!" The Russian's heavy hands gently patted Johnson's back. He must remember what happened with him earlier.

" _Listen up!"_

Johnson felt the computerized words vibrate in his head. At first he thought it was the MEC, but it was looking in the general direction of everyone else. Johnson followed their stares to see a small man, only coming up to his own chin, facing towards them. Any of the man's features were covered by his glossy, black armor and helm so Johnson couldn't determine what nationality the man was.

" _Strike Diamond, you are to provide supporting fire for Mack."_

"Who's Mack?" Johnson rubbed his helmet.

" _Are you kidding me? Is your HUD on?"_

"HUD?"

" _Damn engineering team,"_ the man muttered, _"The HUD is your 'Heads up Display'. Normally it activates as soon as the op starts, but occasionally mistakes slip pass the engineers. Try whacking it, worked for me once."_

Johnson raised an eyebrow, wondering how whacking it would rectify the problem. He whacked it, however, and amazingly it worked. The HUD fuzzed to life outlining his allies in blue. Names and nation's flags hovered over them along with a featureless human-shape with a blue filling. On either bottom corner was another human-shape and his rifle filled in with green. Below it was his sidearm and just a little off to the side was his grenades. In the top right was a black circle with a center blue dot surrounded by more blue dots.

Johnson looked over each of the names and found 'Mack' who was the MEC. Then he looked back at the leader. The Chinese Flag was hovering above him and the name _Hui Xi._

" _Works?"_

Johnson nodded.

" _Good. We've already wasted enough time, let us get going. Intelligence just gave us a waypoint and just told us that forces on station are suffering heavy losses. Let's move out!"_

The teams responded with a hail of 'yes sir' and began making their way to the city hall. They passed by scenes where the military made a last stand, often damaged equipment and bodies littered the area. They passed by fires raging inside buildings or vehicles or a group of shellshocked humans. Alien box-like devices had lodged themselves into the ground, a green mist swirling around it. They came across alien packs as well and they put them down like cattle. Easy, but messy. Sectoids lead them to a Thin Man or Floater pack, occasionally a Muton pack.

Johnson had underestimated the new rifle thinking it wouldn't do anything given how much more effective lasers and plasma were. He even taken a liking to it because when the bullets penetrated skin or armor it somehow melted the soft insides. Just like now as he pumped a downed Floater full of 'lead'.

"You know, I can get use to this gun!" Johnson held up the rifles examining the smoking barrel. Unlike the older version that had transparent, grey smoke that went up, the newer rifle had a green mist that swirled down.

"Just more ways to cause a painful death," Cynthia muttered as she whipped her knife against her shoulder pads. Green blood dripped off of the knife onto the pads which then trickled down. Behind her a Sectoid was limp on the asphalt.

"Yet the aliens use plasma to melt our fellow humans," Aleph responded. Shortly after, a loud boom echoed throughout the street as the last remaining Floater dropped from the sky like a stone.

"They're still living things for crying out loud!"

"Things that use and discard life as they see fit."

" _Cut the chatter! Just because you were civs in your pervious lives doesn't mean you can sit around and chat! We have a mission to do!"_ Hui barked over the comms.

" _Sir, I see the City Wall. I count seventeen regular Mutons shooting up fourteen defenders_ ," One of Red team's members reported.

" _Copy, do you see the VIP?"_

" _No, probably fled inside_."

" _Copy. Everyone, here's the plan. Mack moves up covered by Diamond through the middle. We go to the sides and flank them."_

A chorus of acknowledgments rippled throughout the teams.

Johnson felt the ground rumble a bit as Mack thumped over to his position. Johnson looked at his ammo count and upon seeing that the black had nearly engulfed all of the blue, he unclipped the magazine and popped in a new one. He then jumped inside a burnt out USV and took aim. He saw Zhou, grinning madly, crawl up behind a flipped over red car. He lifted his grenade launcher and propped it ontop of the car. Cynthia slid behind a still standing Bus Stop and peeped her head around, her rifle at the ready. The others took cover on either side of them. Ahead of them was what appeared to be a smaller version of the Capital Building. Sandbags closed the gaps between the pillars yet did little against the plasma. It ate through the bags and the person behind it. However, Johnson noticed Aleph and the Russian, Yuri, weren't in his field of view. Likely hanging out in the rear.

" _Snipes, what's the distance?"_

" _Two hundred meters, each Muton taking cover at eight to twenty-seven feet intervals. Defenders are taking cover behind the pillars or sandbags, but it's doing little,"_ Yuri reported.

" _Three Cyberdisks just entered the fray. Two to three drones per one,"_ Aleph's said.

" _Copy, paint it green."_

Immediately upon hearing the words, Johnson heard two distinct shots slice through the air. One was a traditional sniper shot while the other sounded akin to gas exhaust. The trails of the bullets remained as the bullets flew through the air, both hitting the back of a Muton. Johnson couldn't see if it went down, but that didn't matter since it would only be seconds before the aliens realized what happened. He pressed the rifle against his shoulder, stared down the sights, and pulled the trigger. The rifle kicked back in response as it sent a trio of bullets. The others began firing and the aliens were quick to retaliate. Some still fired on the defenders of the City Hall while the rest focused their attention on the XCOM operatives.

" _Darn it! I can't make boom-boom at this distance!"_ Zhou complained. Johnson saw him crawling on the ground, plasma flying overhead.

Johnson's eyes widen when he heard the sizzling heat of plasma just above him. He glanced up seeing that the plasma had just hit part of the top window. A few inches closer and his helm would be blacker than it already was. In response, though, he fired at Mutons forcing them to take cover or risk getting hit. He got a few hits, either by skill or sheer luck, splattering their blood on the ground. The wounds didn't faze them. Instead they roared in fury and pounded their chests with bullets and plasma following often resulting in a gory death.

Mack charged forward, shrugging off plasma that slammed into it and only stopping to fire or maneuver around an obstacle. As the MEC charged, Johnson and the others moved up taking cover behind various objects. Be it broken lapposts or street lights, vehicles, and anything else that gave decent protection against the superheated plasma.

Johnson dashed and slid behind a concrete jersey barrier near the Mutons. Johnson breathed heavily, blood rushing and felt lightheaded. He had faced against Mutons before and they were always a pain to take down because of their armor. Yet they won because Mutons just loved boosting. The remaining Mutons, however, didn't even attempt to do that. They fought fiercer as their numbers were cut down, as if they were fanatically trying to protect something.

"Duh," Johnson slapped his forehead."An Ethereal is leading the charge, but where is it? It could be inside which would be bad. I'll have to worry about that later."

Johnson then jumped out from behind cover firing at a nearby Muton. The bullets sparked as they ate through armor and into the tissue. The Muton leaped to its feet, pointing its rifle at Johnson. However, before it could pull the trigger, mushy flesh oozed out of the holes. The Muton dropped its rifle and onto a knee. A hand gripped its chest trying to stop the flesh from pouring out. It roared in pain as Johnson lined up another shot at its head.

Just as he fired, another Muton leaped between the bullets and the target. Johnson heard the bullets bounce off its armor. It then made a half-growl, half-roar as if to say _"You can't touch this!"_

Johnson quickly readjusted his sights and aimed for the Muton's head. Time seem to slow down allowing Johnson to get a good look at it.

The Muton's face was covered in an ornate, green-red helmet. Two 'horns' rose up vertically and two fins jutted sideways. It was also covered in armor. _Much_ more armor than the regular Muton. It held a heavier, bulkier version of what appeared to be a plasma rifle. A colorful grenade with a golden top button dangled from its hip. It was probably a Muton Elite, the guards of the Ethereals.

The Elite charged forward instead of firing its weapon. Johnson fired, but the bullets ricocheted off the armor. As the Elite closed in, Johnson began to panic. He heard of Mutons' superhuman strength and many operatives who met a Muton's fist.

Not wanting to be a pancake, Johnson pressed the trigger and didn't let go until he heard clicks. No more bullets came out after that while all of the bullets fired had bounced off. Johnson's hand quickly reached for his ammo belt and snitched a new clip. Before he could slip it in, however, the Elite's fingers curled into a fist. The fist smashed into Johnson's chest and he felt his ribs bend inward, crushing his lungs.

He was sent flying and time once again slowed allowing him to see the battle upside down.

The aliens weren't doing so well; most either lay on the ground dead or bleed profusely. The humans had either flanked them or were sending waves of fire keeping the Mutons in cover. Mack was busy throwing a USV at a Muton who fled in terror. The Cyberdisks and drones were all destroyed, sparking husks that were scattered. Then time sped up and Johnson landed onto the ground with an oaf.

Johnson groaned. It felt like a sledgehammer had hit him. His muscles were on fire and he was breathing heavily. Still, he slowly rose only to be met with a massive fist to the face.

He fell down onto his bum gripping his helm in pain. He looked up to see the Elite reloading its weapon and Johnson screamed" 'HELP!"

The Elite pointed its weapon at Johnson whose hand padded the ground for a weapon. Anything that would distract it long enough so he could find his rifle. Then Johnson saw someone jump onto the Elite's back, surprising it. A knife was shoved through a nick in its neck armor. The Elite bellowed. A hand went over its shoulder grabbing its assailant and threw it over.

Johnson saw that the assailant was a marine. He couldn't be more than in his early twenties, around his age.

The Elite brought up a foot and Johnson scrambled for a weapon. He found his rifle just a few inches from where he landed. He picked it up just in time to hear the marine's agonized scream batting his ears. Johnson spun around and saw the Elite slowly pressing a boot into the marine's face. The marine desperately pounded the boot. Johnson acted instantly and pressed the trigger.

 _CLICK_

Fuck. He forgot it was empty!

Johnson snitched a new clip and shoved it into the rifle. However, the click from the rifle must have alerted the Elite because it reared its boot up and brought it down smashing in the marine's face. His fist went limp, dropping off to the side. The Muton dragged the boot off the smashed in face, blood trailing behind.

" Fuck you!" Johnson howled in fury. He popped off a few rounds that bounced off the Muton's seemingly impenetrable armor.

Then loud thumping made them both turn.

The MEC's giant hand shot forth like lightening. It grabbed the Elite's head and squished it before it could even react. The hand withdrew itself allowing the corpse to fall to the ground. Johnson saw the head smashed like a pumpkin.

" _Are you alright?"_ Mack asked.

Johnson nodded. Mack then turned around to face the Muton injured by Johnson. It was still on one knee, but it shakily held a pistol in its grip. The weapon flared green as it discharged plasma that flew to the MEC. However, the shakiness must have hindered its aim because it missed by a few feet. Mack retaliated by pulling back its fist and punching it. The result was a spectacular splatter as it exploded. Blood, guts, and armor shards were sent flying and an unfortunate Muton caught the bunt of it. It went limp and fell down. Johnson could see that a large, sharp piece of armor had embedded itself into the alien's head.

"Well, that takes care of that," Johnson said.

The remaining aliens were dispatched quickly by Mack after that.

Johnson and the rest of the operatives gathered at the foot of the steps. Johnson expected the marines and National Guard to thank them and let them in. Instead, they all pointed their weapons at them and in return, XCOM aimed their weapons.

"Who the fuck, are you?" A marine, presumably the leader, yelled.

"EXALT!" Zhou answered.

A murmur of confusion rose from the defenders.

" _Ignore him. We've been sent to get Jack Smith and get him out,"_ Hui said. He had lowered his rifle and the rest of Strike Red followed suit.

"We didn't get word that anyone was coming! The damn aliens blasted through the fucking back walls. Overran the poor bastards that didn't get killed. We were forced to run like bitches out here where a nice little ambush was set up. Lost most of my boys and girls to those fuckers."

" _My sympathies. However, we need to find Jack Smith. Do you know where he is?"_

"Of course we fucking do. The guy managed to drag one of ours to a hallway where a platform was just before one of those assholes blew it skyhigh. The hall led to a panic room so he'll go there unless the fuckers overran that place to."

"You guys cuss a lot," Zhou said.

"We just lost most of our company and we haven't had any sleep for the past twenty four hours. Wink here and there, but the aliens keep fucking with us so forgive us if our fucking manners aren't top priority."

" _Do you want revenge?"_

"Of fucking course we do! Isn't that right?"

"Oh-rah!"

" _Then make way,"_ Mack said. He ran up the steps and the defenders rolled out of its way. _"Scans show multiple injuries sustained by fighting. Administering Feelgood Fart."_

Once again, murmurs of confusion rose from the defenders while most of Strike Red was chuckling. Hui, through, was shaking his head. Johnson and the rest of Diamond were just as confused as the marines and National Guard.

"Are these guys for real?" A marine asked as a purple mist formed around them, accompanied by farting sounds.

" _Challenge accepted. Stand back."_

They took a few steps back allowing Mack to position itself in front of the double doors. It pulled back its fist and hit the doors. The force sent both doors and bricks flying into a group of Sectoids lead by a Muton. The smaller aliens were flattened by the debris while the Muton held its arm to its face to block the debris. When it lowered its arm and saw the MEC pulling its fist back again, the Muton made something akin to a puppy whimper before the fist connected with its body.

" _MEC smash,"_ Mack said as the Muton flew into a wall breaking it down.

"Ok, I take back what I said! You guys are sweet asskicking alien killers!"

"Was that really necessary?" The marine leader asked.

"Of course! It was likely that those X-Rays were coming to reinforce their buddies!" A member of Red team answered just as a plasma bolt came out of nowhere and vaporized his chest.

The operative made a raspy gasp before faceplanting to the ground.

" _Take cover!"_ Hui screamed just as a wave of plasma came through the hole.

Johnson ducked behind a table on its side and popped his head out to see what was going on.

Aleph was climbing up a flight of stairs to the second level, stopping only to fire into the hole where a steady stream of Mutons, Floaters, and Sectoids flooded through. Zhou had taken refuge behind the Receipt Counter. He placed his grenade launcher and fired round after round of grenades into groups of X-Rays. Cynthia was tending to the wounded, possibly dead, operative. She had rolled him over and was dragging him off to hide behind a downed statue. Hui was barking commands behind Mack who used itself as a tank. The MEC ruthlessly tore apart any alien not in cover with his minigun. The rest were scattered about behind cover and trading fire with the aliens.

Johnson aimed his rifle and pressed the trigger sending bullets into a Sectoid who exploded in green. He moved on to a Floater that was suppressing a marine. He fired, the bullets smashing into the propulsion jet that kept the Floater afloat. The jet sparked and made a whirring noise before denoting the Floater into a million pieces.

"Keep up the pressure boys!" The marine leader laughed.

"This is for Kenny you bastards!"

"I'll rip your fucking fingers off and beat you with them!"

"For the Emperor!"

Johnson heard war cries, taunts, and insults thrown at the aliens. It didn't matter since the aliens couldn't understand human speech, but it did motivate the troops.

" _Where the hell are the Mectoid and the Ethereal?"_ Hui asked over the radio.

Johnson quickly surveyed the room. However, they weren't among the aliens.

"I got nothing sir!" Johnson reported.

The others reported the same. Johnson assumed they turned tail upon hearing that the mighty XCOM was coming!

That quickly changed when something very large dropped through the ceiling. It landed in the middle of the room where the Receipt Counter was earning a high-pitched scream from Zhou. The Chinese man ran like a bat out of hell and dove behind Mack before it realized that it was near the alien MEC.

Johnson shifted his weapon from a Sectoid to the giant newcomer. It stood the same height as the MEC, but could would be taller if it didn't stand on hunched legs. Its sliver-blue armor glittered around a Sectoid's face, mouth covered by a mask for whatever reason. The duel cannons snapped up and pointed at Mack.

" _LIGHT UP THE MECTOID!"_ Hui roared. The outline of the Mectoid became bright red with an upside down arrow on top of it.

Everyone fired upon the Mectoid. The storm of bullets and plasma smashed into it yet it refused to go down. The alien MEC fired the cannons and its plasma hit Mack who fell down from the blast. However, it rose up and charged.

Both Mack and the Mectoid became entangled in melee combat. Johnson knew that the Mectoid wouldn't last very longer because the aliens didn't give it any of melee weapons of its own. So he was surprised when the Mectoid managed to jammed a cannon into a leg joint and fired. The plasma melted the joint allowing the alien to whack it and a loud pop followed. The leg was pushed aside, Mack fell down, the Mectoid placed a foot on Mack's body, and raised its cannons. Plasma discharged into Mack's face, melting away the helm. It fired again. As the plasma melted the operator, Mack let out a blood-curdling scream while the Mectoid made a metal grinding as if it was laughing.

" _You motherfucker!"_ A Red team operative yelled and bolted out from cover. The Mectoid just swatted away the annoyance. The operative hit a wall and fell down never to rise again.

" _We're being slaughtered!"_ Another Red team operative panicked and tried running out of City Hall. Some of the marines followed suit. Hui barked for them to return and Johnson was about to go get them when a floating robed figure that hovered into the building.

" _Fuck me! Ethereal!"_ The operative shouted just before the newcomer's four arms came out of the robes and came together to form a purple sphere. The being then threw it into the operative's head which was sliced clean through. The headless body fell to the ground earning furious gunfire from the retreating marines.

"Take that!" One of the marines shouted.

The Eternal's four hands snapped together forming a solid barrier of energy. Each bullet was caught and the being lightly pushed the barrier with a hand. The bullets then were reflected back to their owners with mixed success. Some fell to the ground, some were merely gazed, and others weren't hit at all. The alien, however, didn't stop there. It held up a hand and a small, black-purple rift engulfed the marines tearing their bodies apart.

Johnson watched it all in horror. Their screams as their limbs were torn from their sockets, their skin being ripped off, and their organs were thrown about. When it faded away, the remains were scattered in all directions.

" _Goddamn it! Somebody keep the Ethereal busy while we take care of the Mectoid!"_

Johnson closed his eyes and breathed. He had never fought an Ethereal before and given just how easily it tore apart those troops, he was likely going to die. However, it would give the others time to take care of the Mectoid and then focus on it. If no one else was going to handle it, he might as well go down a hero.

When Johnson opened his eyes, it was staring at something. Johnson followed its gaze to Cynthia still tending to the operative.

Johnson let a warning out just as the Ethereal formed a purple sphere in its hands and threw it. Cynthia just had enough time to scramble out of the way. However, the operative wasn't so lucky. The sphere smacked dead center on his chest vaporizing the lungs and the heart. He bellowed in pain, rolling over as he bleed out. After a few raspy breaths, the man laid still as stone. No more noise came from him.

"Nobody messes with my patients!" Cynthia growled. The being trained its gaze on her and formed another sphere. When it launched the sphere, she ducked and fired. The alien quickly erected a disk capturing every bullet. Using the distraction, Cynthia sprinted forward and somersaulted over it. When she landed, she raised her rifle and pulled the trigger sending bullets into the back of its head.

The Ethereal bent slightly over from the bullets impacting the helm, but otherwise looked unharmed. It made a low, angry growl and turned to face Cynthia who fired into its face. The Ethereal took each bullet, still looking unharmed and before she could fire again, the alien held up a hand. A purple outline encased Cynthia and she was lifted off the ground. She struggled against the invisible force, but to no avail.

Johnson tried to aim his weapon without risking hitting his teammate. How useless he felt when Cynthia was fighting the Ethereal. Now because of his incompetence, she was trapped.

"Let her go!" Johnson raised his rifle. Well, that just came out. He should have just fired.

The Ethereal's head rotated to face Johnson. He could feel a sinister smile grow underneath the helmet, but whatever it was about to do didn't happen. Somehow, Cynthia managed to break free from the Ethereal's grip and slid a knife into its bottom neck. The Ethereal roared in pain and threw its hand at Johnson, with Cynthia flying at him.

Johnson didn't react fast enough and Cynthia slammed into his chest sending them both flying. Johnson then felt himself hit Zhou forcing them both down onto the ground.

"Ohh," Johnson groaned in pain. Dull pain rippled throughout his chest.

"Get your butt off of me!" Zhou said.

"Ow, that's going to hurt," Cynthia groaned.

Johnson rose on wobbly legs. He glanced at the Ethereal who remain motionless as if it wanted them to get up. It didn't do anything until Johnson scrambled for his rifle that landed near them. Once the rifle was obtained, the alien placed two fingers on its temple while its lower hands shot forth sending a stream of menacing, dark purple to him. It quickly wrapped around his head before fading.

Johnson suddenly felt like something was crawling inside his head, japing his brain. He heard a sinister voice speak to him,

" _Kill them."_

" _What?"_

Johnson turned to his teammates to see they were replaced by aliens. A Muton had taken the place of Zhou and a Floater had replaced Cynthia. Both of them were climbing back up. The urge to kill them was like the need for water. He just couldn't help it.

He raised his rifle at the Muton and was ready to pull the trigger.

" _NO!"_ A small voice at the back of his head screamed.

" _Kill them,"_ The other voice growled.

" _This.. this is a… I don't…"_ Johnson didn't know what to do. It was like parents giving a child two contradicting commands. Johnson didn't know which parent to please.

The two voices bickered while Johnson lowered his rifle. He watched as the Muton rose up and turned to him. Johnson flinched slightly when the Muton spoke in Zhou's voice.

"Earth to Johnson! An Ethereal is right behind you and-"

The Muton stopped speaking suddenly, but it also seemed that it didn't know it stopped.

" _Do not listen to them. They are the enemy!"_

" _No! They're friends!"_

" _Shut up, both of you,"_ Johnson mentally growled.

The Muton and the Floater both aimed their weapons behind Johnson. That was when the sinister voice began to panic.

" _KILL THEM! KILL THEM!"_

" _I said shut the fuck up!"_ Johnson whipped around to face whatever the two aliens were about to shoot at. In front of him, a blinding golden light shone where the Ethereal should be. It felt… peaceful, welcoming. So how come he felt an evil presence in the light?

" _KILL THEM!"_

"I said keep quiet!" Johnson shouted at the voice. Suddenly the crawling feeling was replaced by a throbbing headache. The light receded into the form of an Ethereal and he saw that the aliens were replaced by his friends.

" _How?"_ The Ethereal sounded distant.

Johnson didn't respond. Instead he let loose a furious wave of bullets alongside his teammates. The Ethereal was quick to form a barrier, but unlike the pervious time when it reflected the projectiles back, the barrier dissipated. The projectiles fell to the ground harmlessly. Then before they could fire again, the Mectoid leaped over their heads and planted its feet between them.

" _Everyone fall back into the halls! There's too many to handle!"_ Hui shouted, _"I'm setting up a waypoint where we will fall back to!"_

Johnson and the rest beat a hastily retreat joining the remains of Strike Red and the defenders. All that was left was Hui and Yuri. The rest had met a terrible fate by plasma, mind rape, or were smashed into bits by a Muton Berserker. Strike Diamond, however, managed to escape mostly uninjured. Johnson was still reeling from the effects of what he presumed to be an attempted mind control. Aleph was limping along from when he had to jump from the second level to escape with them. Zhou and Cynthia, aside from some pain when the Ethereal threw them, were fine.

The humans fled into one of the halls all together. Hui had decided to place Johnson and his team up front because they had suffered only cuts and bruises. The marines and National Guard troops in the middle since they still had plenty of guys left and could reinforce either side. Strike Red at the rear because Hui wanted the best chance at revenge for what the aliens did.

The group eventually ran into a dead end. A steel door had blocked them from going in deeper.

" _Alright, anyone know how we can open this?"_ Hui asked.

"Simple! Explode it!" Zhou chuckled. He raised his weapon at the door, but Aleph rested a hand on it.

Zhou cocked his head at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Zhou, blasting your way through a reinforced steel door will do nothing, but alert the aliens to us. However, I know how we can open this."

"How?"

"Hacking."

"Wait, you can hack? Did you hack into my personal computer and post all those pictures?!"

"Focus Zhou!"

" _And how do you know hacking?"_ Hui asked.

"That is not important at the moment," Aleph answered. He walked over to a keypad next to the door and lifted his left arm.

Johnson had never noticed that a device was strapped to Aleph's wrist. It appeared to be one of those tiny devices in spy movies one could just wear on the wrist and it pretended to be a watch or something alike that. Expect this device was square in shape.

Aleph examined the keypad carefully. After a few moments he used his fingers to feel around it and it opened shortly after. He then grabbed the keypad and pushed it aside revealing the hardware underneath. Johnson just saw a bunch of wires and motherboards while Aleph looked for a place to hook his hacking device.

The heavy footfalls echoed throughout the hall.

"Guys, I think the aliens just found us!" Johnson said. He looked around for cover, but aside from a few crates there was nothing to provide cover.

" _Aleph, hurry it up!"_ Hui barked.

Aleph didn't respond. Instead, he looked down at his device and unhooked two wires. He inserted them into the keypad where the screen on his wrist fuzzed to life. Numbers began to randomly select themselves for what Johnson assumed to be the password.

"Got it!" Aleph yelled.

The doors grind slowly opened. Aleph was the first one in followed by the rest of Strike Diamond. Two marines slid through the doors and Hui was about to enter when Yuri stood still.

" _Yuri! We have to go!"_ Hui grabbed Yuri's shoulder.

Yuri spun around and using the momentum, hit Hui in the head with the butt of his sniper. The Red team leader fell to the ground. Before he could rise, Yuri placed a boot on Hui's chest and placed the sniper onto of Hui's helmet right between the eyes. The others were caught by surprised and the marines that hadn't entered yet raised their own rifles.

" _Hold it or he and all of you die,"_ Yuri said. The soldiers were just about to shot him when Johnson saw something metalize out of thin air. He could only compare it to a steely shark with tentacles and somehow learned to float. They latched onto the men and women wrapping their tentacles around them. The soldiers struggled against their grip, but the shark-squids seemed to only tighten their grip.

" _Surrender and no one gets hurt. Don't make this anymore harder, you know all of you will just lose."_

" _Yuri, why?"_

" _For EXALT. Now surrender, all of you!"_

Johnson's muscles tensed, ready to raise his rifle. He weighed the options presented to him. On one hand they could fire at him and possibly die. On the other they could surrender and still die. Neither was great.

"No," Aleph hands grabbed something. It looked like a camera with a handgun handle stick out from the bottom and when Aleph pressed the button, a stream of electricity jumped from it to the keypad on their side. The doors began to close. The flying squids released their grip and zoomed towards the doors before they could shut closed.

 **A/N: Another chapter done! Red Team got mauled and Yuri is a traitor. Also, some reviews have pointed out some flaws and I intent to correct those mistakes. Thanks Reviewers! Now, unto the reviews!**

 **Guest: Well, thanks for saying there's some issues with my writing, but what are these mistakes?**

 **Liimbo: Thanks for checking out the story and pointing out the flaws. I'll redo the chapter names and revise the summary. I also noticed that the Fandom isn't very large here with the stories, counting crossovers, somewhere around 300. If you know a place where the Fandom is larger please tell me!**

 **chinaglaze: Thanks for the review! I'll correct those problems so they're not a eyesore.**

 **The following review is from my last story.**

 **VolcanicPizza: Thank you for reading the story Pizza.**


End file.
